Total play-time on Steam up by 88 per cent in 2018, says Green Man Gaming

Green Man Gaming has published statistics that reveal the total play-time on Steam in 2018 was up 88 per cent, with Valve’s own Counter-Strike: Global Offensive taking the top spot with 193 million in-game hours. Valve made Counter-Strike: Global Offensive free-to-play in December, as well as adding an all-new Battle Royale mode.

Dota 2 came a close second with a total of more than 177 million hours in-game, followed by Team Fortress 2, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, and Warframe.

The 2018 Year in Review – which highlights key gaming trends based on data from over five million customers and community members worldwide – indicates US gamers clocked in the most in-game hours with an impressive 412 million combined hours spent in-game on PC/Steam, equating to an incredible 47,000 years. Runner up in the total play time chart was the UK, with 92 million hours, followed by Russia, Canada and Brazil.

"Video games as a form of entertainment has come into their own with revenues 2.5 times that of the film industry and 6 times the size of digital music," said Paul Sulyok, CEO and founder of Green Man Gaming. "Gamers are playing even more games than ever before and our community data shows this with an 88 per cent increase in playtime year on year."

"We are truly living in the golden age of video game entertainment today and I can’t wait to see what 2019 will bring."

About Vikki Blake

It took 15 years of civil service monotony for Vikki to crack and switch to writing about games. She has since become an experienced reporter and critic working with a number of specialist and mainstream outlets in both the UK and beyond.